AMAZONAS Mystery Species Answers

30 Apr, 2015

Cherax sp. “Apocalypse Red Claw” Crayfish. This exciting new form seen here for the first time lives not far from the locations of the well-known variant with white-tipped blue claws (Apocalypse Orange Tiger,” introduced in AMAZONAS September/October 2017), close to the border between West Papua in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. It has started to enter the aquarium trade in Europe, and North American aquarists can hope it makes its way here soon. —Hans-Georg Evers. See the November/December 2017 AMAZONAS. (BLUE-EYES Issue—see also the species below.)

Redhead Vieja Cichlid, humphead male in full courtship coloration. This species is officially now Vieja melanura, but many know it as Cichlasoma synspilum—or even Heros melanurus. AMAZONAS author Michael Pilack, who breeds this fish and took the photograph, believes that two distinct species may eventually emerge from this tangle of names and big, lovable cichlids. A must-read for cichlid lovers and taxonomy sleuths. See the November/December 2017 AMAZONAS. (BLUE-EYES Issue—see also the species below.)

Displaying male Pseudomugil luminatus, a lovely species of Blue-eye sometimes called the “Red Neon” Blue-eye and described by Dr. Gerry Allen et al in 2016. Allen, G. A., P. J. Unmack & R. K. Hadiaty (2016): Pseudomugil luminatus, a new species of Blue-eye (Teleostei: Pseudomugilidae) from southern New Guinea, with notes on P. gertrudae. – Fishes of Sahul, 30(1): 950–961. Image: Hans-Georg Evers. Read an account of tracking it in the wild in the November/December AMAZONAS.

A rare Colombian livebearer, Priapichthys nigroventralis, male. Image: Dirk Stojek. See article in the September/October 2017 issue of AMAZONAS Magazine. Note length of gonopodium, approximately 40% of the total length of the body. “Gonopodial length 37 to 43 per cent of standard length (in this genus).” Rosen, D.E. American Museum of Natural History, Notivates, 10/20/1967.—

Skunk Cory, Corydoras arcuatus: This is the true Skunk Cory, a large fish with a pointed snout. See pages 36-37 of AMAZONAS Volume 4-6, November/December 2015. Article by Steven Grant, image by Hans-Georg Evers.